How To Bench Press

When almost all guys bench press, they simply get down on the bench, plant their feet (if they’re smart enough to know that), retract their shoulders, grab the bar, bring it straight down to their chest and shove it back up.

It’s not that this itself is a mistake for performing the bench press; that is essentially how you perform the exercise.

However if your goal for utilizing the bench press is to stimulate optimal growth in your chest, rather than just perform the bench press exercise, then this is a mistake.

Some minor, yet crucial tweaks can drastically improve the recruitment of your pecs and overall stimulation for growth in your chest.

The Secret Bench Press Technique

The function of your pectorals is horizontal adduction, which means moving your upper arms (humerus) across the front of your body. So in order to create maximum tension on the pecs we need to be moving weight against this specific function.

So here’s the secret to improving your bench press and getting better gains for your chest.

Instead of just pushing the weight straight up and down, focus on applying inward pressure on the bar as if you were squeezing your hands together and trying to compress the bar together.

Don’t overdo this or allow your hands to actually move or slide inwards on the bar, keep your grip fixed, but apply some slight inward pressure as you perform the bench press.

The Recap

In order to have a more optimal bench press to build a bigger chest, you need to apply resistance against the specific function of the pectoral muscles.

The pecs are designed to contract and bring your upper arms across the front of your body so next time you bench press, apply inward pressure on the bar to get much better activation in the pecs.

Try this out next time you bench and you’ll feel the difference as soon as you start the exercise. Over time, this minor tweak will help make a substantial difference in your overall chest size and help take your pecs from leaflet thin to phonebook thick, real quick!